"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Wednesday, 21 December 2016

Having small girls again to gift is part of the incentive. The first was our visit to One of a Kind Craft Fair two weeks ago.

I also need a distraction.

The sewing machine has it's own story. I made a contribution to OMERS pension when I

was a Regional Councillor. I had the option withdraw it when I left. I did and bought the Bernina.

When I was appointed to the Social Assistance Review Board,I started knitting again to occupy my time in dreary small town and city hotel rooms. Travelling is a deadly way to earn a living.

Yesterday was the Christmas family gathering .The little girls took their gifts home unopened. This morning, smiling photos showed them in their new aprons proudly displaying the Rice Krispie squares they'd made already.

I have not forsworn politics. It has been too long a part of my life.I may have the stomach for it again.

The swaggering youth of our own Prime Minister gives me no comfort.

It's hard to see how the financial mess in the Province will be resolved.

I will sew up more of my fabric stash. Knit up the yarn.

I may master the art of crochet so my great grandchildren can be photographed wearing hats with flowers in pastel colours.Maybe even acquire an interest themselves. Self-sufficiency is a good thing.

I will do what women have always done. Create order amidst chaos in an area where we have control.

Where projects are started and completed and serve a useful and pleasurable purpose.

On Sunday, I held two newborns in my arms . A girl and a boy. Neala and Grayson are tenth and eleventh members of the fourth generation of my family. There will be others and photos to put time into perspective.

For them, to-days news will be lost in the mist of history. Like the French and American Revolutions and later the American Civil War was to my own generation.

Sunday, 4 December 2016

The most read story in the New York Times this week was how a rich man made his wealth disappear when his wife filed for divorce.

The great thing about the New York Times is how complete the stories.

The problem is, how long they take to read. If I had the paper ,it would mean much of my day would be spent reading. I love ldetails. When I finish reading, no questions are left.

It reminds me of the time before the Toronto Sun. The Globe and Mail was delivered at six in the morning. The same carrier delivered it until he finished high school.

Reading it was the start of my day . If the Globe wasn't delivered ,it seemed my day never began.

But the story in the NYT was particularly informative. It told how a couple acquired the wealth.

They were immigrants, both. He was Finnish. She came from Wales. Their first venture was a con

like I wrote about a few weeks ago.

A social media ad offered a free trial with shipping charges to be paid. That's how the credit card number was obtained. The ad claimed endorsations by Ellen de Generis.

I learned later, permission was not required to make the claim.

Small print tied me to a contract which within five weeks produced a $500 debit balance on the Superstore MasterCard. It was the credit card rep who informec me how I came to be committed

to a contract .

Dialogue between us continued for months before the problem was resolved to my satisfaction.

My last call requested contact information for the President of Superstore. I didn't get that bu the $500 debit was removed from my account.

Now I'm reading in the New York Times , about a couple, possibly the same , who amassed a fortune of $400 million with such a scam and several other similar projects. As well as wealth ,they had mansions, a condo ,a boat and a plane. They moved in circles such as the Donald Trumps of the world.

It struck me ironic that Bernie Madoff is in prison for stock market fraud. He would have to live several lives to complete sentences handed down for his offences.

Martha Stewart served time In jail for making money from the stock market outside the rules.

Donald Trump gets to settle civil action out of court for $24 million. He operated a university with

claims pthat didn't stand up in court.

He's not in the habit of settling with victims . He has told us . He did this time because he didn't want the scandal hanging over him as he is sworn in as President of the United States and taking over the Oval Office.

The NWT didn't refer to Trump in the story about how to hide a $400 million fortune of ill-gotten gains.